Sleep or die early?

[Brucey]

IIRC there is evidence to show that we sleep less these days than 100 years ago. There is also evidence that sleeping too much is associated with poor health and poor longevity.

However cause and effect are difficult to separate from one another; doubtless you sleep more with certain illnesses.

But lack of sleep can wreck you; I went through a time of not sleeping well and it was awful. I recently changed to a different mattress and I think I've been sleeping better.

cheers

[bigjim]

I can sleep 8 or 9 hours at a stretch and can usually sleep anywhere. I'm 69 and take no medication. I have worked shifts in the past and the lack of sleep used to really affect me. I had to give up nights as I could not cope with the lack of sleep. I once worked nights driving lorries. I was dangerous. I was pulling into service areas for naps all the time. Soon packed that in.

[Flinders]

According to the article, half the population are getting less than six hours' sleep a night. That looks pretty bad to me.
I know people who only need 5, but they are a tiny minority. Most people I know know they need at least 7 if not 8.

I need 8, and feel unwell if I get less than 7. And the other week when I was getting four or five at most, I felt lousy. I could do things, go out on the bike, go for a long walk- and I had to do both - but I'm certain it was affecting my 'output' and I couldn't do any serious work. I wonder if some people's inefficiency at work ( and I see a lot of it) is down to not enough sleep.

It interests me that the article mentions a raised heart rate after a bad night. After 2 terrible nights and one merely bad one, my heart rate was definitely higher than normal. Not by much, but it definitely was. Also, in my case, if my sleep is broken, even if the total isn't too bad, it can be as bad as having a lot less.

I've had one good night now and feel better, but still not up to par, so off for another 8+ hours. I find it takes a few days to catch up.

[CyberKnight]

Looks like i will die next week then .
Shift worker and on nights i get maybe 5 if im lucky and 6-7on days, on monday i was awake over 24 hours as i had to take lad to hospital appointment then go to work all night

[pete75]

started reading the article but it sent me to sleep.

[softlips]

Not read the article but I have seen lots of things presented regarding sleep at medical conferences recently. Lack of sleep and cardiac disease - although it's hard to prove it's causal and not casual. The incidence of Alzheimer's does seem to be markedly elevated in those who sleep less regardless of whether through choice or insomnia.

[bigjim]

Didn't Thatcher boast about only needing 4 hours sleep a night?

[De Sisti]

After yesterday evening's orchestra rehearsal my mind was buzzing with the pieces of music we played
and the technical playing I was trying to accomplish on the double bass. Despite being in bed by 10:15 pm
(rehearsal finished at 9:00 pm) I was still wide awake at 2:45 am (having dozed off and waking at 00:45 am).

Things on your mind can prevent sleep. However, I hope that lots of positive neural connections were being
made in my brain whilst I was thinking about the rehearsal that had taken place a few hours earlier.

[Vorpal]

Studies look at populations. An individual may have a different response to sleep, or lack of it.

Just because one person only gets 5 hours of sleep per night, it's not necessarily a reason to worry. Most of us need more than that, but not all of us. On the other hand, there are folks who need 9 or 10 hours of sleep each night to avoid illness and other problems.

The amount of sleep that we need varies with age, as well as individuals.

[nez]

Studies look at populations. An individual may have a different response to sleep, or lack of it.

Just because one person only gets 5 hours of sleep per night, it's not necessarily a reason to worry. Most of us need more than that, but not all of us. On the other hand, there are folks who need 9 or 10 hours of sleep each night to avoid illness and other problems.

The amount of sleep that we need varies with age, as well as individuals.

I’ll say it varies with age. Recently sailed for 30 hours alone - the sort of thing I used to do all the time when I was young. It absolutely knackered me for days after!

[mercalia]

The BBC's comments

"10 things to know about sleep as the clocks go back"

eg

"Shift workers who have disturbed sleep get sick more often"

"Studies have shown that depriving people of enough sleep for only a few nights in a row can be enough to put healthy adults into a pre-diabetic state. These moderate levels of sleep deprivation damaged their bodies' ability to control blood glucose levels."

"Prof O'Mara explains that toxic debris builds up in your brain during the course of the day and waste is drained from the body during sleep. If you don't sleep enough, you end up in a mildly concussed state, he says."

some interesting graphs and pictures to back up the "clever dick" article
eg

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-41666563

[De Sisti]

"Studies have shown that depriving people of enough sleep for only a few nights in a row can be enough to put healthy adults into a pre-diabetic state.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-41666563

Yes but how much is "a few nights". If one is only doing two consecutive night-shifts every 10 days or so, with generous time off
in between, it's enough for one to recover. (dahikt)

[gbnz]

"Shift workers who have disturbed sleep get sick more often"

To say that such "evidence" is subject to interpretation, would be a mild under statement!

The majority of Shift workers by origin, will tend to originate from the lower socio-economic groups and will comply with the characteristics of such groupings I.e. Smoking, drinking alcohol, poor diet, poor housing and general poor lifestyle choices and so on.

It's rather like suggesting that the reason people in social housing die years earlier than educated professionals living in their own property, is due to the fact that they live in social housing. Rather than recognizing the socio economic background that results in such people living in social housing and their shorter lifespans

[bigjim]

The majority of Shift workers by origin

Not so sure of that. Doctors, Nurses, Firemen, Pilots, Policemen etc must surely make up a large amount of relatively, well paid, workers?

[Vorpal]

There have been many other studies that show that shift work that includes night shifts is detrimental due to disturbed sleep patterns. There is a medical disorder associated with it, called 'shift work disorder'. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2904525/